Minnesota Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek smiled when asked about two of his longtime teammates returning from injuries this week. One of the players, Kirill Kaprizov, is the leading scorer on the Wild.

It's time to worry about Minnesota Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek's health. Eriksson Ek is on pace for 43 points in 68 games. He plays a demanding role as the team's garbage man in grueling matchups. Opponents constantly cross-check him in the back when he's in front of their net.

Without Kirill Kaprizov, Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon, Minnesota played a smart, poised and gutsy game, pulling away in the third for a 3-1 victory at Ball Arena.

The Minnesota Wild’s injured and struggling defensive lineup is old news, but Bill Geurin and John Hynes learned from last season’s similar issues and planned ahead. David Jiricek is one contingency plan that has panned out.

THROUGH GAMES OF WEDNESDAY, JAN. 22, 2025

It has been two months since we did a Wild mailbag and several months since we did an ‘Ask Russo and Smith’ mailbag, but with Joe back on the clock, there’s no better time to answer many of your questions.

The Minnesota Wild (27-15-4) are back in action tonight for one more game on the road before they return home. They will face the Colorado Avalanche (28-18-1) today for a 2:00 p.m. central time start.

Yakov Trenin and Brock Faber scored goals 1:35 apart early in the third period, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 in Denver on Monday.

In the world of cosmic good timing, what better place than Music City for the Minnesota Wild to be at least starting the process of getting the band back together? Not everyone will be ready to play the Nashville Predators on Saturday,

David Jiricek scored for the Wild early in a fight-filled opening period, but they struggled to find other offense until Nashville had taken a comfortable lead, losing their third consecutive game.

The infraction did not result in a penalty during the game, nor any response from NHL Player Safety afterward.